A employee resigns

12 week investigation ends

Polk County State Attorney's Office completes its twelve week criminal investigation which focused on the on-duty actions of officers. The investigation included interviewing 19 people, including 11 current or former sworn Lakeland Police officers. Two city employees were also interviewed. Ten were involved in either sex acts or sexually suggestive behavior, and five of those are supervisors and ranked members of Lakeland Police Department. The behavior took place over the past seven years with Lakeland Police Department crime analyst Sue Eberle. Some of the acts would have been criminal in nature if timely reported and investigated. Other acts involved sexual harassment in the workplace.

Police Chief defends the agency

Lakeland Police Chief appears before Lakeland City Commission and speaks for more than two hours about the disciplinary policies and defending the agency.

Leaders ask for an intervention

The Polk County Legislative Delegation urged the City of Lakeland to bring in Polk Sheriff Grady Judd to clean up the problems and restore confidence in the police department.

State and federal sexual harassment complaints filed

Sue Eberle and her husband hold a news conference at the office of her attorney who announced they've filed federal and state sexual harassment complaints against the city of Lakeland and the Lakeland Police Department, with their next legal action likely a lawsuit against the parties.

Long list of names

Sue Eberle's confidant, Detective Loretta Jackson, contacted an internal affairs detective she knew to meet with her off duty. Jackson had a long list of names she showed the IA detective and said they were provided by Eberle who had documented her sexual encounters with current and former Lakeland Police officers.

Untruthful testimony

State Attorney Investigators met with former Lakeland Police Officer Steve Sherman and had an informal conversation. He admitted to investigators that he was not truthful when interviewed during the police department's internal affairs investigation. He then admitted to engaging in sexual activity with Sue Eberle while on duty as a Lakeland Police officer. He stated that he wished to set the record straight. A formal interview was scheduled two days later.